Ember
by animeparody
Summary: "Being alone hurts. Knowing that you will be left alone and can do nothing but wait, hurts more." Mikoto and Tatara's death. Warning: Angst, lots of hurt, suicide attempt, Character death.Multi chapter. Two parts, Izumo and Anna. Now with omake.
1. Before, (Kusanagi Izumo)

Before (Kusanagi Izumo)

Kusanagi knows well what will happen to Mikoto when his Weissman Level reaches its limit. He also knows what Mikoto will do to make sure that when he dies, nobody else will.

Tatara knew too. Both want to die with their king when the time comes. But they know Mikoto won't let that happen. So when Tatara dies, he can't help but think something selfish.

"At least you'll be with Mikoto soon."

He knows how selfish he sounds. But maybe that's because he realises that soon, he'll be alone.

Alone.

He doesn't want that.

So he doesn't tell anyone what he thought that night. Well, almost.

Later they sit down. Look at Tatara's last video. The video the records his death. Ironic. The last recording of someone who recorded all of Homura's happiest moments, was the most despairing thing they have ever seen.

He sees it. How Tatara dies. And every second he thinks,_ I wish I could've stopped that. I WANT to stop that._ But it doesn't change anything. Tatara is gone and he'll never come back.

Homura starts to move out right after that. They want to destroy the killer, the colorless king. They will burn him, until not even ashes remain. They will get revenge. Damn the fact that it's a king they're after, if the murderer speaks the truth.

One evening, the whole of Homura is out and Izumo is alone in his bar. Sitting on the floor of a back room with some of his alcohol storage, the door shut tight, Izumo lets himself break.

_Tatara is gone. Soon, so will Mikoto. Soon, he'll be alone. Alone. Alone. Alone._ The word resounds in his head. He picks up a glass, fills it, and starts to drinks as much as he can.

Izumo doesn't just break. He shatters into pieces.

Sometime after, when he is finally drunk, Izumo finds a coil of rope in the corner of the room. He is not very drunk yet, but his mind is foggy, his movements sluggish and his thoughts jumbled. He downs the remains of his glass and sits down, the rope in his lap.

Half the time he doesn't realize what he's doing, only that his hands are working the rope into something. Tatara's death and Mikoto soon inevitable demise are the only things that are in his thoughts now.

He doesn't spent how much time he spends, sitting there, tying the rope. It feels like hours but it could be minutes. But when his vision clears slightly he sees that the rope in his hands has turned into a noose.

A noose.

"Maybe I'll follow Mikoto and Tatara after he dies…"

He doesn't realize that he said that out loud. He doesn't realize that for the past five minutes someone has been standing in the open doorway watching him finger the noose, that he has heard what Izumo said until he is being harshly yanked up be the neck of his shirt and is staring into Mikoto's angry amber eyes.

"Mikoto…"

The word comes out slightly slurred. Their eyes are directly in contact, his trademark shades somewhere on his bar counter. In other words, there is nothing that stop Mikoto from seeing the turmoil of emotions behind his friends eyes.

"Izumo, don't you even think about…"

That's odd. Even after that much alcohol, the edge of his vision shouldn't be black yet.

"What are you thi- Izumo?"

Izumo's mind is barely registering Mikoto' voice. It's going softer by the second.

"Izumo?"

"Hah… Mikoto…"

The world spins once, before his vision goes black.

* * *

When Izumo comes to, it takes him a while to register the fact that he's awake, because something soft has been placed over his eyes. Something wet.

_Cloth._ The word registers in his mind before he attempts to make his hands listen to him and remove the cloth. His small effort is halted, when another person's hand stops his from moving and places it back by his side.

"Izumo, when was the last time you ate?"

Ate. Food. With all that had happened, the thought of feeding himself has left his mind entirely.

"Izumo? How long did you go without food?"

His voice comes out hoarse.

"A few days I think."

He only tells Mikoto days, and not how long he actually realizes it is.

"Izumo."

But his king realizes that he's not being truthful.

"… a little over a week."

He hears a sigh.

"Izumo."

"Don't worry I'll just go get something to eat…"

It's taking him a lot of effort to prevent his voice from breaking. His throat is sore and his mouth is dry.

"Ne, how long did I sleep?"

"Five hours. It's one in the morning now."

"Ne, Mikoto. It isn't good for you to stay up so late-"

"Izumo."

His grip on the bartender's hand tightens, and Izumo knows that want Mikoto wants is an explanation, not empty reassurances.

"When you leave, Tatara will be waiting for you."

His mind is still foggy from the alcohol, Mikoto reasons. There's no way Izumo would say something like that straight at him if he was sober.

"Both of you will leave me alone…"

Mikoto doesn't know why he's grabbed Izumo by the front of his shirt, just like when he heard about his suicide plans. He freezes when he realises that Izumo is shaking. That he is crying. That right now his second in command is broken and he doesn't know what to do.

The first thing that comes to mind is how he's let this happen without noticing. Over the week, he hasn't noticed at all how Izumo's health has deteriorated. Mikoto only notices the bags under his eyes, the pale shade his skin has taken and how tired he looks now. When it too late. The only thing he can do is let go of Izumo, tear his eyes away from his broken face and lend him his shoulder to cry on.

It goes on for an hour until he loses whatever energy he had and collapses in Mikoto's arms again, succumbing to his fatigue.

It's a good eleven hours until he wakes up again, and hurriedly puts his mask back on again, but Mikoto makes sure that he eats a full meal and tells Anna and Kamamoto to do so in case he's not there.

The rest of the clan don't question why Izumo has woken up so late, why their king seems to be watching him more closely or why he asks Anna ad Kamamoto to keep an eye on him. They understand that even Homura's second in command is not invincible.

The night before they raid the weapons dealer's lair, after Mikoto tells Izumo his plan, Mikoto gets Izumo to make a promise. A promise that if he dies, Izumo won't follow him, or even try to. Izumo is reluctant and it takes a lot of persuading on Mikoto's part for him to give. Even then, Mikoto is not entirely sure he will keep it. But his promise is the only thing he has to hold on to.

Time passes. Mikoto is captured by Sceptre-4. They find Tatara's muderer. They become so much more closer to extracting revenge. The blues get in their way. Mikoto breaks out if jail. They find the killer's hideout and take over the School Island. A war between them and the blue clan erupts. They discover the truth.

All through this Izumo knows that the time when Mikoto will leave is growing closer by the second. And he can't do anything but watch. It hurts. It hurts so much.

Then it happens.

Mikoto dies.

Izumo is there when the blue king's sabre runs through Mikoto. He sees that his king is smiling. He's smiling because he died alone, and he didn't kill several thousand people with him. Even Munakata's face is grim. It's clear that he did not want to resort to this. But the world narrows down to the fact that Mikoto's is gone, and finally Izumo is alone.


	2. Aftermath (Kusanagi Izumo)

AFTERMATH, (Kusanagi Izumo)

It takes a week for everything to settle and the truth to sink in. It also take a week for Izumo to break his promise.

Unfortunately, the others are out. The rest of Homura has spread themselves around the city, going to their little pockets of isolation to wallow in despair or drink away their sorrows. Well, most.

Sitting on two benches in an otherwise empty park is Bandou, Shohei, Kamamoto, Chitose, Dewa, Yata and Anna. Dewa, Chitose and Bandou are on one bench, with Shohei standing to the left of Bandou. Kamamoto and Anna are on the other bench, Yata preferring to stand with his back to a lamppost, his skate board by his side.

They're silent, eyes downcast, silently absorbing the fact that in less than a month they have lost two very important members of Homura, their king and Totsuka. The silence is broken when Anna speaks up.

"How you do think Izumo is doing?"

"The same as everyone else I guess. Why?"

Anna hesitates, which tells the Homura members that whatever she has to say is of deep meaning.

"I heard Mikoto say something to him before we went on that raid…"

"?"

The others look up, their attention focusing on Anna. Perhaps it's a good thing, because if they continue to focus on their king's death, they will eventually lose whatever hold on reality they have left. She tells them that on the night before the raid, the two went to the roof.

_Flashback_

_Anna had, unbeknownst to the two, followed Mikoto and Izumo to the roof. Something told her to follow them, that she needed to hear what they going to say. _

_"Izumo." _

_"Yes?"_

_"Promise that you won't follow me. That you won't try to follow me."_

_"…"_

_"Izumo."_

_"No."_

_"Izumo."_

_"No, Mikoto. I can't make that promise." _

_"Izumo. Don't follow me. You can't follow me." _

_"Why not?" _

_"Because you don't have to."_

_"What makes you so sure about that?" _

_"The rest of Homura needs you. You're not going to be alone."_

_Anna can hear Izumo hesitate through the door, before he speeds again._

_"I promise."_

_Anna quickly scurries back downstairs before they can find her eaves dropping, and because something tells her that that's all he needed to hear. _

_When Mikoto and Izumo come back down, they don't suspect a thing._

"That's odd. Why would Mikoto-San ask Kusanagi-San to make a promise like that?"

Shohei is the first to break the five minutes of silence that follows the revelation.

"Unless Kusanagi-San implied that he might- he might-"

Kamamoto cannot bring himself to say 'commit suicide' because the thought of Homura's second in command doing that seem so surreal.

They absorb the information and try to make sense of it until dewa speaks up.

"Wait, isn't Kusanagi-San alone right now-"

They have started moving before the last word is out of Dewa's mouth, moving as fast as they can to their base, where they have left Kusanagi-San alone. All of them are thinking how could they have left Kusanagi-San alone. How could they have been so stupid?

Yata rips open the obstructing door and they rush in before freezing at the sight before them.

Izumo is staring intently at his left wrist, captivated by the trickles of blood that appear as he runs a broken shard of glass across it.

They freeze, unable to move because the sight of Izumo cutting his wrist is so impossible they feel that it's a dream. Yes, it's a dream. In a while they will wake up, and this will never have happened…

It's only when Izumo's wrist is painted red, when he lifts the shard to cut his wrist, that they register the fact that, yes, it's real and if they don't do something soon he will die.

Thy move, their voices coming back as yells of shock and bore they reach Izumo, Yata is there slapping away his hand and pushing him down, while Anna has taken out her handkerchief and is trying to stop the blood.

The rest help Yata hold Izumo down, because he has started to violently struggle and he is still Homura's second in command. Even with all of them holding him down, they have to struggle to hold him down.

"Hospital! We need to…"

Anna's voice rises above the others yelling and Izumo hears it.

"No! Don't! Don't…"

He manages to strangle out three words before passing out.

* * *

When Izumo wakes up, he finds that he has not been brought to a hospital, which he is thankful for. But instead he finds Yata and Anna worriedly looking down at him.

"Kusanagi-San?"

When he tries to open his mouth to reply, his voice is hoarse.

"Yata… Anna."

That's all he manages to say because truthfully he feels like he's swallowed sandpaper.

Anna seems to notice this and tugs at Yata's sleeve to signal to him. Izumo only realizes how tired he really is when he blacks out again right after.

* * *

_Where am I?_

_Alone. _

_Tatara. _

_Alone. _

_Mikoto. _

_Alone. _

_Tatara, Mikoto._

_Alone. _

_Where are you?_

_Alone. _

_I'm alone…_

_Alone. _

_Alone. _

_Alone. _


	3. Shortly after (Kushina Anna)

Shortly After, (Kushina Anna)

All the members of Homura have different reds. None are the same.

Yata's red is wild, uncontrollable, but always burns with purpose. Izumo's red is steady, it spreads out slowly and temper some of the more wild flames, like Yata.

Totsuka's red is the most different. It's glows softly, spreads over everyone and keeps them together. It makes the others calm. But she can't really describe it, because its gone now. It's harder to remember something you know you'll never see again. When Totsuka's becomes a dull grey, a crack appears in the marble.

Mikoto's red is warm but never burns. It envelops the others like Tatara's but is more like a loin that stands protectively in front of them. She holds on that memory as firmly as she can, because she doesn't want to lose it. When even that disappears, another crack apears in the marble.

Izumo's red has changed. Now it's flickering, dying out. When she looks closer it seems as if its trying to make itself die out. She's afraid of losing anything else. Afraid of seeing another red go dull. So she tells Yata what she heard the night before raid. They rush to him, try to stop that red from going dull, but they only barely manage. When Izumo struggles, his red goes more dull by minute and Anna desperately tries to staunch the flow of blood.

"Hospital! We need to…"

"No! Don't! Don't…"

His voice sounds like he's pleading, it hurtful to listen to, so they can't help but obey. They clean the wound, bandage it and put him to rest in a spare room. Anna watches his face when they lie him down. He's pale, a thin sheen of sweat covers his skin and his breaths come short and rapid. If only Tatara was here. He'd know what to do…

Anna reminds herself that Tatara is not there. Not anymore.

She looks at Izumo's red this time. It's much more dull than before, but at least it's not near grey yet. It gets brighter for a while, but gets full again. It alternates between growing brighter and dulling the whole time so Anna firmly plants herself by his side in worry. Yata stays with her, watching. His red is so silent that its slightly uneasy. When Tatara died it raged with anger, only becoming sullen once in a while. It's only ever once been this silent, and that's when Fushimi left. A small crack appears in the marble. Though not as large as the other two cracks, it is nevertheless a crack. But she tries her best to hold the marble together.

* * *

_Five minutes. _

_Half an hour. _

_One hour. _

_When will he wake?_

_Two hours. _

_Three hours. _

_Soon?_

_Four hours. _

_Five hours. _

_Will he ever wake? _

_Six hours. _

Seven hours later, Izumo opens his eyes. Anna is relieved that he has opened his eyes, and that his red steadies a bit when he wakes. At first he blinked at the ceiling, as if trying to make sure that he has not been sent to a hospital. After a minute of silence, Yata uncertainly calls out.

"Kusanagi-San?"

He focuses on the two of them, realizing that the two have been looking at him. He struggles with his voice for a while until he manages to choke out two words.

"Yata… Anna…"

His voice sounds like someone has roughly stuffed sandpaper down his throat, so Anna at Yata's sleeve to tell him to let Izumo rest longer.

They leave, now assured, to tell the others. They find them waiting downstairs, an uneasy air around the room.

The second Yata's foot makes contact with the floor beyond the doorway, every stands up and crowd around him, asking if its true. There's no need to answer because their grim faces are enough. Their voices rise in panic, and they ask if Kusanagi-San is alive, because they cannot bear to lose anyone else. Anna's voice is hard to make out, so they don't hear her. Yata notices, and yells at them to shut up. It works because it becomes so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"He's not dead."

A collective sigh. They disperse slowly from around the doorway and assume their previous positions, allowing Anna to see all the people there and see how many have come after hearing the news.

Rikio Kamamoto, Yō Chitose, Masaomi Dewa, Kōsuke Fujishima, Saburōta Bando, Shōhei Akagi and Eric Sutr. Seven people. Good. And it's the Homura members she's more familiar with. At least these are the members who know how to leash their powers and have a much better mindset then the rest. And it's not too big a number.

They settle and absorb the truth slowly, hoping that they are dreaming. But the truth is there, slapping them in their faces, as if mocking the fact that they cannot change it. On the bar counter, the counter that would always shine from Kusanagi-san's care, is a lone shard of glass with flecks of dried blood on it. On the ground below it is the shattered remains of the glass it had come from.


	4. Aftermath, (Kushina Anna)

AFTERMATH, (Kushina Anna)

The final crack, the one that shatters the marble, happens a week after.

Thorough out the week there have been problems with members of Homura who have decided to leave, because their loyalty was only out of intimidation. With two of the top three dead and the last one recovering from a suicide attempt, most have decided to sever their bonds. Homura is literally falling apart.

The members of the red clan are disappearing by day and now there's barely three dozen left. Anna can't believe how this is happening. Yet at the same time she can. Those who left see Homura no longer as the powerful clan it was before. They see it as dying clan whose King fell at the hands of another.

Anna's decision is to stay. Anna will stay with Homura until the day she dies. Nothing will change that, not even when her aunt, Kushina Honami, comes to get her.

Anna's been with Homura for a long time. She's been there even since she was eight. Both her parents died in an accident and she was left in care of Kushina Honami, her aunt. She stayed with Honami for a short amount of time but she was later left in the care of Suoh Mikoto, her former student. Honami had her own children to look after and left her specifically in Mikoto's care because she knew she was a strain. It wasn't that she wanted to get rid of Anna, oh no. She chose Mikoto because she thought it would be better for Anna to be with someone like her.

Mikoto was glad for Anna. She was one of the few who did not look at him with fear, intimidation or 'the red king'. She merely saw him just Suoh Mikoto. She even called him by his first name when they met.

When Anna opens the door of the bar, intending to go to a nearby store to get something to eat, she is greeted by the stiff form of her aunt.

"Anna?"

She is hesitant, and Anna knows something bad is going to happen.

"Anna, I'm here to take you back with me."

"No."

"Come on Anna. Grab your stuff and let's leave."

"No."

"Anna, we're going."

"No. I'm not leaving."

Honami's face is now pulled into a tight frown, and she gives Anna a stern glare.

"You can't stay here."

"Why not?"

Anna is staring back at her, their eyes locked, but her face expressionless.

"I left you in Suoh's care. Now he's dead. You're left with a gang of brutish men. I obviously can't leave you in the hands of a suicidal man. You're coming back with me. Homura is a bad influence on you."

"No. You're wrong."

Anna is backing away from her unconsciously, her voice rising in clear anger.

"Homura isn't bad. I'm staying with them. Homura is my family."

"Nonsense. You're too young to be able to think about these sort of matters. You're coming back with me."

"No I'm not."

"You're coming back with me to a real family-"

The second she hears the word family, the marble shatters.

"What family. Homura is my real family. Homura was more of a family than you ever were."

Honami is stunned, but her shock quickly turns into anger.

"You're coming with me, wether you like it or not!"

Her hand reaches out to grab Anna's arm, but recoils when it is met with a layer of flames.

"Anna stop this! You cannot stay with Homura-"

"I'M NOT LEAVING!"

All of her pent up emotions from Tatara's death until know blows, accompanied by a sphere of red flames that engulfed her small figure.

"I'M NOT LEAVING HOMURA AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

The street blows, and in the cover of dust and debris, Anna turns and runs.

"Anna!"

She hears Yata and Kamamoto call out her name, but doesn't stop or even turn, because she hears Honami calling her too. Anna doesn't want to look at Homami. She doesn't want to look at the person who is supposed to be her aunt. She doesn't want to look at the person who wants to take her away from Homura.

She runs, with tears in her eyes. Running to somewhere, anywhere. She wants to be with Mikoto. With Totsuka. She wants to rewind time and start over. But she can't. She will never see Tatara's kind smile or Mikoto's warm red ever again.

* * *

Author's note:

Yosh, first author's note! Sorry if I made anyone get depressed with Izumo's suicide attempt and other depressing thoughts. Anna's aunt, Kushina Honami is a cannon character who made her debut in the novel K SIDE:RED. Anna's story [her parents, how she came into Mikoto's care and calling him by his name when they first met] is also cannon. But why Honami left Anna under Mikoto's care and why she couldn't is my head-canon. Honami's personality is also non-canon. feel free to criticize me, but no flames please.

My thanks to the following people for following, favorite-ing and reviewing:

Bree Renee, DaRKaIsTAr, SullyWullybunny, TheRoseShadow, WitchyCloudpine, kiseru , April Night, K. B. Piper, VampiresLoveSteakCakes

Apologies for a short chapter but the next will be a bit lengthy, so look forward to it! But it'll probably take a few days…


	5. Console in silence

Console in silence.

"I actually managed to sneak out…"

It is common to see young people sneaking into graveyards at night in groups to give each other a good scare near Halloween, but it not so common to see a rather sad looking young man walking into a graveyard in the dead of the night near Christmas.

He watched the light snow fall around him, a thin coat of white blanketing the cemetery.

"Now then, how long will it take for them to find me?"

As he neared two gravestones on the edge of the graveyard, he noticed that something was behind it.

"Eh? This is!"

Behind the stone, a young girl dressed in red was sleeping in the snow.

* * *

_"Tatara." _

_The said man turned to look at Anna, his half finished glass of water in his hands. _

_"Tatara doesn't fight like the rest right?"_

_"Yep!"_

_"Why not?" _

_"Same reason as you I guess. I can't really fight. In fact I suck at it."_

_"Just that?"_

_"Well, also because I can't really bring myself to hurt others. Maybe that's why I have so many hobbies eh? Because I want to find something that I'm good at."_

_If only I could go back to that time and never leave. _

* * *

Cold.

Anna blinked the sleep out of her eyes and rubbed her arms. She moved her cramped leg and-

Wait, where was she?

She was sitting on a patch of frozen grass, light snow falling around her and leaning against something. She blinked again to make sure she wasn't dreaming and moved her hands up to- there was a jacket around her shoulders. She didn't remember having a jacket and this one seemed to be for an adult.

Then she noticed the familiar clicking of a lighter to her left, and the telltale scent of smoke.

"You're supposed to be resting."

"Geez, I save you from the cold and the first thing you do is lecture me."

Anna looked at Izumo. He looked better but not like he was before. He still looked worn out and a bit pale. His red wasn't as bright as it was before too. But it's still better than a week ago. A week ago, when he was in danger of dying.

"Are you sure you should be walking around?"

"Don't worry I'm fine."

Anna looked around and noticed that she was sitting against a tree and the surroundings looked familiar.

"Where?"

Izumo gave a wry smile and pointed behind the tree. She looked and saw two familiar stones.

"Imagine my surprise when I went to visit those two and found that you'd beaten me to it."

Anna got up and walked over to the the two. She stared at it, stared at the names written on it and just stood for a few minutes with Izumo beside her, doing the same thing.

"Yata and the others didn't look here?"

"They did. But I figured you didn't want anyone to find you so I moved you behind the trees earlier."

"Thanks."

A moment of silence, all noise muted by the snow. Nothing dares to venture out of their safe havens into the biting cold that comes with December.

"What happened?"

Anna looked down.

"Honami wants to take me back with her."

"You don't want to follow her?"

"I don't wanna leave. I wanna stay with Homura."

Izumo knelt down beside her.

"Anna, there won't be a Homura left by way things are going. They've been leaving right?"

"Yata and Kamamoto won't leave. I can still stay with you."

"Anna, you want to stay with a man in danger of commuting suicide?"

"Izumo don't go."

"Anna…"

"It's lonely without Tatara and Mikoto but it'll be even more lonely if Izumo leaves."

Tears were steadily making their way down her face now.

"Don't go. There's *sniff* still people who want you here. Mikoto *sniff* might get mad if you follow him. He'll *sniff* hit you on the head."

She started crying a hard as she could, unable to form anymore words. He could only put a hand on her head softy and let her cry her heart out.

"I'll stay."

Her crying turned into soft sniffles as she looked at him puzzled. He gave her a small smile.

"I'll stay, because you want me too. How about that?"

She wiped her tears way and attempted to stop her sniffling as she smiled back at him. She held out her little finger.

"Pinky promise?"

He held out his finger and replied softly.

"Pinky promise."

Anna smiled at him, all sniffles now gone.

"Your jacket."

She held out the black material to him.

"Are you cold?"

"I'm fine. Izumo is warm."

"Come on then."

He held out a hand and she took it.

"Let's go home now."

* * *

_She falls asleep so fast. _

Izumo slowly made his way back to Homura, careful not to disturb the sleeping princess on his back as the first few rays of sunrise struggled to make their way through the cold winter sky of Shizume City. He turned to corner and the bar came into sight, along with the stiff figure of Kushina Honami.

She eyed the figure on his back and walked towards them. She held out her hands and motioned towards Anna.

"Kusanagi, give her to me."

She stood there impatiently, waiting.

"No."

She looked appalled.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. Anna wants to stay with Homura, not go with you."

"I am her legal guardian!"

"I don't give a damn about legalities. And last time I checked, Suoh Mikoto was her guardian."

"Well wake up Kusanagi. Suoh is dead."

"And he's left her with me. You can't take her if she doesn't want to leave."

"She can't stay with you! She has the right to go with her real family!"

"Homura was more of a family to her then you ever were."

"She's just a child who doesn't understand the world. She can't stay with a bunch of-"

"Kushina-San, shut your damned mouth."

She rooted to the ground as she stared at him in pure shock.

"Anna is more mature than you take her for. She can perfectly understand what it means to stay here. Sorry to say over past few minutes I've lost all my respect for you. Anna is not going with you and that's final. Now get the hell out of here."

He walked past her and ignored her yells of outrage. He felt Anna's arms tighten as she whispered.

"Thanks Izumo."

"Just go to sleep. It's not good for growing girls to be short on sleep."

"Kusanagi-San! Anna!"

Yata and Kamamoto ran up to them, relief written on their faces.

"Hey. Gave you guys a good shock didn't I?"

"More like gave us heart attack."

Kamamoto murmured.

"Sorry, sorry."

Izumo gave a light laugh.

"Kusanagi-San, are the both of you alright?"

Yata looks over them for any injuries.

"Well, tried to run in front of a truck-"

"KUSANAGI-SAN!"

"I was joking! Calm down! The two of you are so gullible."

Both of them sighed in relief.

**"KUSANAGI IZUMO! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? GET BACK RIGHT THIS INST-"**

"Er… what about-?"

All them looked back at the still yelling, fuming Kushina Honami.

"Let's just ignore her."

Izumo finalized.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep! Lets go in now shall we?"

Not a perfect christmas but still better than nothing.

* * *

Authors note: Well, one more chapter to go and I'll end this fic. By the way, the next chapter will take longer than usual because its a special chapter, the epilogue; three years pass in a short time. You can probably guess what's next from the chapter. By the way, Anna is 12 in this fic because her birthday has passed. You know the ironical thing is that Totsuka died the day before her birthday. Sad right? So in the next chapter Anna will be 15, Yata will be 22 and Izumo will be 29. I'm trying to write some action scenes for the next chapter but no promises! Boy do I have my work cut out for me. See you soon and thanks for reading! Oh! Before I forget, I've put up a poll. Should I make a sequel to Ember? It's your vote. Please check it out!


	6. Three years pass in a short time

Three years pass in a short time.

In an perfectly normal city called Shizume city, they have a perfectly normal warehouse district. In this perfectly ordinary district is a not so normal warehouse. In fact, it is a smugglers warehouse. A smugglers warehouse that is currently going down in flames.

This warehouse is owned by one of the richest men in the city, a man named Takanashi Touma. Takanashi owns a company that deals with shipping and imports. He is a very greedy man who is obsessed with making money. He wanted to become the richest man on earth, thus when he reached the limit of legally earning money, he turned to smuggling. Drugs, weapons, you name anything illegal that you want, and he'll sell it to you for a high price. Because he has ties within the city's police force, they can't touch him. Scepter-4 is also unable to touch him as their superiors have given orders to turn a blind eye, and they are unable to find solid evidence. Imagine you are Takanashi Touma. You have a the cities officials around your finger and a steady income of billions of dollars. You're sitting upon a throne over the city where you think nothing can touch you. You're greed has apparently blinded you to the fact that although this city's legal side can't touch, the illegal side doesn't give a damn. Coincidentally, of all the gangs and underground organizations they pick to piss of, they pick the worst choice.

Homura.

Well considering its membership size, it doesn't look like much to be worried about. But the fact still remains that it's a group of highly dangerous people with superpowers. But apparently, idiocy comes with greed.

So lesson of the day, don't call Homura's princess a prostitute.

* * *

"Fuck! It's Homura!"

"Don't worry! There's only one person-"

Thug A's face promptly kissed the ground when a bat slams into the back of his head. Thug B raises his gun and points it at the Homura member.

"Don't move! Your outnumbered!"

The man just raises an eyebrow and looks at the thug as if he's made a very funny joke.

"Uh, when the last time you looked around?"

Thug B looks around the flaming warehouse… and sees that all 20 of his men are knocked out cold and lying on the ground.

"You'll pay for this! I'm the leader of the black skull gang and we'll defina-"

Before the thug finishes his sentence, a foot makes painful contact with his solar plexus, successfully shutting him up and leaving him gasping for air.

"That's, for calling me a prostitute."

He cranes his neck to look at his attacker, and sees…

"Hey, you're that prostitute chick from two days ago!"

The girl merely sighs and rolls her eyes.

"Yata, can you lend me your bat?"

The man holds it out to her and sighs too.

"You'd think they'd have common sense. Or a brain for that matter."

The last thing he remembers before the bat connects with his face is the girls voice saying,

"This, is for calling me a prostitute _again_."

* * *

"48, 49, 50, 51, 52… is it necessary to have this much men defend this one small warehouse?"

Anna counted the thugs they had tied up and gathered outside.

"Takanashi is a paranoid person."

Izumo happily replied from his position on the other side of the pile.

"Have you checked for anymore people?"

"Check. This is all there is."

Dewa and Chitose stood by, while Bandou and Shohei checked the ropes and knocked out anybody who woke up.

Yata and Kamamoto ran over from behind the building, the latter falling beside the much more energetic former.

"All of the stocks have been disposed of."

Izumo nodded at the two and looked around.

"Now all that's left is…"

Eric and Fujushima slipped out of the shadows in between two neighboring warehouses and grinned. Well, Fujushima was grinning. Eric was just as emotionless as he was three years ago.

"It's clear. Nobody's within a kilometer of this place."

Izumo nodded again and put his hands together.

"Now it's time for the finale! Anna, if you would do the honors!"

He spread his arms towards the flaming building.

Anna reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out five marbles. She weighed them and focused. The marbles glowed red slightly before humming, signalling that she had done it right. Nodding in satisfaction, she aimed and threw them at the building. The second the marbles made contact with the warehouse floor, the sealed energy in them was released and five explosions took down the final stubborn remains of the warehouse, tinting the fresh night sky orange.

Izumo whistled at the fiery display while the others praised Anna.

"Great job Anna! Now how about we see how Sceptre-4 faired with Takanashi-San's arrest?"

Another thing that Takanashi Touma did not take into account was Sceptre-4 and Homura's fairly good ties with each other. And the fact that pissing of Awashima Seri is never a good move. And the fact that Kusanagi Izumo is a very well informed person. Or that he has enough secret ties to get just enough evidence to arrest him. Through illegal means though.

Upon their arrival, the first thing they notice is Awashima trying to force a blood covered Fushimi into a stretcher.

"I'm fine damn it!"

"Define fine! You're going to die blood loss at this rate!"

"I'm fine so quit-!"

Awashima smacks the top of his head and takes the moment to strap him into the stretcher.

"Damn it!"

"Domyouji, Akiyama, take him."

"Understood."

The two men push their swearing superior towards the waiting ambulance, both of them and the three paramedics cringing at his language.

"Did you have a successful night, tsundora no onna?"

Izumo called out to catch her attention.

Because a large group of people would attract attention, only Izumo and Anna have come to check on the blue clan. Also due to the fact Yata an Fushimi couldn't stay in the same square kilometre without arguing then fighting or just flat out fighting.

"Izumo. Anna."

She glared at Izumo but smiled at Anna.

"What happen to Fushimi?"

"Takanashi tried to escape via helicopter and the idiot jumped into the thing and blew it up. And there I was, thinking he shouldn't be able to move because his leg got shot."

"Sounds like you went through hell to get that guy."

"We've had worst."

"Still going tomorrow?"

Both knew what he was talking about.

"Of course. We of Sceptre-4 are not as cold as you think. We still mourn our dead king."

When Mikoto died, he hadn't been alone. At the exact same time Munakata's blade ran through the red king, his hand made contact with the blue kings lower chest and unintentionally caused his flames to enter his body and cause some of Munakata's organs to start failing.

It was a slow painful death, one that Mikoto did not intend and Munakata did not deserve. Munakata had at first kept it hidden, they think that he wished not to hinder his team at such a crucial time, but a week after he was incapable of even sitting up. He died three days later when he gave up and told the doctors to end it.

Kusanagi, the remainder of Homura and Yatogami Kuroh had been there, Kuroh because he had met Izumo on the way and wished to pay a visit to the dying king. His reasoning was that the blue king had been a noble man and a worthy adversary. It was lucky that they were there, because they had to restrain several members of Sceptre-4 from going berserk, Fushimi and Awashima included. Yata had managerd to knock out Fushimi with Kamamoto's help but it took longer to calm dowm Seri. It took both Kuroh and Izumo to restrain her and by the end of the struggle Izumo sported bruised ribs and Kuroh had a dislocated shoulder.

Sceptre-4 had paid for the miraculously small amount of destruction and sent Homura their apologies a few days later. A month after and Sceptre-4 was mostly back to normal and had started to look for the blue king.

"There was a period of time where we went without a king for several years but we were still able to function, but not as well as we would if we had a king." Seri explained to them.

"We're hoping not to have a repeat of that. But the sword may chose to wait before picking a king."

So now, three years later, there was still no blue king. Awashima was the acting captain if Sceptre-4 and Fushimi was acting as lieutenant, much to his disdain. A rise in position meant more troublesome work.

Tomorrow would be the day when Yatogami Kuroh, that cat strain- Neko was it?-, Homura, Sceptre-4 and the gold king to pay respects to Adolf , Munakata Reisi, Suoh Mikoto and Totsuka Tatara. The gold king was there for Weissman, who had died bringing down the colourless king with him, something they all respected. They didn't actually place the graves beside each other, they were actually a good distance apart. Tomorrow was just the day that all of them decided to visit the dead at the same time.

* * *

The next day, sure enough Sceptre-4 is there, either on their own feet or in crutches. They hear the acting second in command before they see the start of the mass of blue.

"Che! As if I'll get taken down this easy! Calm down, I'm perfectly fine damn it!"

"You should at least take it easy…"

Yata looks appalled at the sight of Fushimi covered in white bandages with a crutch under an arm.

"What happened to him?"

"Apparently he pulled a crazy stunt so that Takanashi wouldn't escape but he got himself heavily injured in the process."

Even after all these years, the two of them are still so stubborn. Yata refuses to go over and check on Fushimi despite them all knowing he's worried. Seeing as Yata will just refuse to meet Fushimi, they move on to their destination, which two stones on the edge of the graveyard.

For a while they just stand there and remember, because even after three years, they can't bring themselves to say anything without crying. They stay, and they clean up a bit, and just stand there looking at the stones. Out of the corner of their eyes they can see the equally silent mass of blue, but the last group is too small and to far away for them to see. They leave after night falls, the blues having gone a while before them. They don't know if the other group is still there at Adolf K. Weissman's grave of wether they went home ahead.

Homura has changed. It is no longer the great clan it was once before but it is still something to fear. But one thing hasn't changed. They have been, and will always be a family bound by bonds thicker than blood.

* * *

Author's note: And there's the end of it. I had a good writing it but now it's over. Which brings the second matter to rise. A sequel to Ember? Yes or no? I've put up a poll on my page, tell me if you have trouble. Option 3 is Ember but Sceptre-4 version. Or just a story with Sceptre-4. Well thanks for reading!


	7. Omake: Christmas

Omake chapter: Christmas.

Authors note:

I am so stupid. You know that poll I mentioned? Turns out I had set it wrong and it couldn't be seen on my profile page. Well I've fixed that now so please go and vote! I think I'll close the poll when an option has ten votes or someone hasn't voted for sometime. Remember, the poll is about the sequel to ember, AKA this fic you're reading. Feel free to PM me ideas.

* * *

_"Let's decorate the bar!"_

_"Why?"_

_"Because its Christmas Izumo! Why else?"_

_"Just don't go overboard with my bar Tatara…"_

_"Now why would you say that?"_

_"Because you turn into a crazed maniac whenever you start one of your plans?"_

_"Mou~ king! Izumo is so mean!"_

_"Sigh…"_

_"Mikoto! Who do you agree with?"_

_"Just let him be Izumo…"_

_"Yay! I win!"_

_"Darn it…"_

_"If you don't let him do what he wants he'll pester us nonstop."_

_"Well you're right about that…"_

_"Mou! The two of you are so mean!"_

* * *

**"NO!"**

Blink. Blink.

"What time is it? Clock. Where's the clock? Ah, there it is. 5 am… what the hell I'm going back to sleep… wait, what's with the blinking lights?"

After a few minutes of blinking at the ceiling and groping around the dark for his phone, Izumo finally noticed red and blue light filtering through his window.

"What is it this early in the morning…"

He grumbled and shifted the curtains slightly, looking down the window at a…

"What the hell is a police car doing outside of my bar at 5 am in the morning?"

Then he noticed the argument between one Kushina Anna and a persistent Kushina Honami taking place on the door of his bar with a worried Yata behind Anna and two policemen behind Honami.

"Crap!"

He grabbed his clothes, made sure he didn't look like someone who was still half asleep and ran out the door.

* * *

_This is worst Christmas._

Anna somehow managed to register the thought whilst yelling at her aunt, who was yelling back.

"I AM NOT LEAVING!"

_Mikoto and Tatara have been gone for a year and Honami is back… I thought she'd gone for good. This really is the worst. _

"What the hell is going on here?"

Yata backed away slightly when the angry Izumo burst through the front door and momentarily cut the arguing short.

One of the policemen stepped forward, while his parter flinched at Izumo and made effort not to take a step back.

"Kushina-San is here to take back here niece, Kushina Anna. She is here as the girl's legal guardian and thus has the right to take her back."

The policeman eyed the girl who had ran behind Izumo the second he was fully out the door. Currently she was glaring at Honami.

"Kushina Honami left Anna at the care of Suoh Mikoto legally years ago. Now she's been left in my care."

"Legally, we are allowed to take the child if we deem the guardian unfit to take care of the child, then you can take this to court. As she is barely a teenager…"

Izumo opened his mouth to retort when something he had never expected to happen, happened.

"Actually, that statement only works in effect to ordinary humans. However, in the case of a strain, it's quite different."

Fushimi Saruhiko was standing in front of the Homura bar, something he has not since he left the red clan.

The police officers stared Fushimi up and down, trying to place the slightly familiar uniform.

"And you are?"

He pulled out his ID.

"Fushimi Saruhiko from Scepter-4. Strains are managed by our division."

The officers paled and Honami looked like she had been run over by a truck.

A small smirk forming on Fushimi's far at the obvious discomfort he was giving the two officers he continued.

"If the strain is an official clansman, she is legally under their charge and will leave unless she chooses to."

He then looked at the shocked teen.

"So, Anna, do you want to leave the red clan?"

She blinked and when convinced that she had heard correctly, smiled and said in a loud clear voice.

"I'm staying with Homura."

The two Officers looked as if someone had slapped them and Honami looked like the truck ha backed up and run over her again.

"Our apologies. We were not told that the child was a strain."

They looked at the trio of Homura members uncertainly and steered Honami towards the car.

"Kushina-San, we're going back down to the office."

She just stared at the amused blue clansman silently and let herself get pushed into the car.

It was only after the car was out of sight did the silence break.

Fushimi sighed and walked nearer to his former teammates.

"Che. So much trouble. Why did I have to get stuck with morning shift- oof!"

He staggered back when one very happy 13 year old girl glomped him in elation.

"Oi Saru! What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Che. I help you and you yell at me. Do you have to bitch about every little thing, Mi-sa-ki! I was on patrol duty, why else would I be here, Mi-sa-ki!"

"Don't use my name so familiarly you damned traitor!"

"Still as short tempered as always, Mi-sa-ki!"

"Damn you-"

"Yata, lets not stir up a ruckus right now. It's too early. Anyway, thanks for the save Fushimi."

Izumo sighed. At least something good happened.

Anna detached herself from Fushimi and looked up at him.

"Thanks Fushimi."

The man in question just looked down at her and sighed.

"Just take it as a Christmas present kid. Don't expect me to be nice to you all year round."

He turned and left, turning the nearest corner just so they would be out of sight sooner.

What he wanted was to go back home and sleep. But he had a damned patrol shift. Damn. Why did they even have to patrol? With Homura quiet nobody else dared to make a commotion. The only thing they had to do was try and find evidence of Takanashi's illegal activities, which wasn't going well. He sighed and stomped through the alleyway, but freezing when something white started falling around him. He looked up at the grey sky and the white snowflakes that had started falling. He held out a hand to catch one.

Snow… it's really christmas huh? I remember that Munakata liked snow…

It had been two years ago that he'd run into the late blue king one his was home from the store, the man standing on the sidewalk, looking up the sky at the falling snow.

_"What are you doing here staring at the sky, Munakata?"_

_"Oh? It's Fushimi. I'm not doing much. Just looking at the snow."_

_"Then you like the snow?"_

He looked Fushimi.

_"I suppose I do. It brings back memories."_

Standing alone on a sidewalk in casual clothes, the blue king looked like a normal person, just with a sad air around him.

* * *

"It's snowing."

Anna pointed at the sky.

"You're right. How think will it be tomorrow?"

Yata held out a hand and tried to catch a snowflake.

"Remember the snowball fight we had two years ago?"

Izumo chuckled.

"The one where we buried Totsuka-San in the snow and you yelled at us for breaking your window with a snowball?"

"Yeah… that one. But you guys had a lot of fun right? You were trying to make a giant snowball and all."

"It was fun…"

Homura will never be the same. They still miss the warmth they once had. Even Scepter-4 yearns for the leadership of their king. They still feel alone. But they manage, and it's not as painful as it was before.


End file.
